Reutzel Rolls into Vegas after Pair of Strong Texas WoO Runs

Lonnie Wheatley, CLUTE, Texas (March 3, 2016) – Aaron Reutzel held his own against the best of the best in home territory last weekend, posting finishes of tenth and 11th in World of Outlaws action at a pair of Texas ovals on Friday and Saturday.

Now, Reutzel makes his first visit to The Dirt Track at Las Vegas for another pair of World of Outlaw nights on Thursday and Friday.  Reutzel will pull double-duty on Friday, competing in the USAC Southwest vs. USAC Western States wingless Sprint Car portion of the Sin City Showdown as well.

“I’ve never actually seen the place,” Reutzel says of the Las Vegas dirt track.  “I have watched it online though, and it looks like it’s usually pretty racy.”

Reutzel will take the seat of Shane Liebig’s No. 55 Triple-X Chassis for both nights of WoO action and then jump into the wingless USAC 360-ci entry fielded by Glenn Styres and Jack Yeley.  The Liebig No. 55 entry out of Rapid City, SD, is the same mount that Reutzel opened the 2016 season with in Winter Heat action at Yuma’s Cocopah Speedway.

“They’re both good pieces, we’ll be able to contend for wins in both cars,” Reutzel says.

One week away from kicking off his ASCS National title defense, Reutzel comes off a strong weekend of World of Outlaws competition in Texas aboard the Shark-powered Dissolvealloy Frac Ball Revolution /BC Fundz No. 87 Triple-X Sprint Car.

“Those guys are the best in the world, I realize that every time I get on the track with them,” Reutzel explains.  “So to run where we did, I guess that’s not too bad.”

The weekend kicked off Friday with the World of Outlaws debut at Cotton Bowl Speedway in Paige, TX. 

After qualifying eighth-quick, Reutzel raced into the Dash and ultimately finished the night out tenth in the main event.

“The first night was good, we qualified where we needed to be,” Reutzel says.  “We were up to fifth or sixth in the feature.  We got to racing with one guy and got dirtied a little bit and had to check up.  That put us back to about 12th.”

Reutzel battled back to tenth in the Wren Motorsports/Momentum Racing Suspensions machine, saying that, “We had a good car.”

Saturday started out very promising aboard the Danny Sander Construction/ButlerBuilt machine at Baytown’s Royal Purple Raceway.

“We qualified really good, it would probably would have been second or third quick,” Reutzel explains.

But then the timing and scoring system malfunctioned, forcing the series to revert to the draw sheet for heat race lineups.

Things still seemed to be falling in place for Reutzel and the Wright Way Logistics/Walker Performance Filtration team.

“We were supposed to start third in our heat, but the pole starter didn’t show up so that moved us up to the pole,” Reutzel explains.

The advantage was quickly taken away when officials deemed that Reutzel jumped the initial start and put him back to third.  “I didn’t think it was a jump, it was more a case of Sammy just not going with me.”

Reutzel held down third throughout the heat to transfer to the feature and then ultimately finished 11th.

“The track was really tight, it didn’t really blow off until around lap 30,” Reutzel said of the 40 lapper.  “We were around 15th then, we made some progress those last few laps and actually finished up in 11th.”

With his initial pair of World of Outlaws events of 2016 in the books, Reutzel gets two more rounds this weekend in Las Vegas beginning tonight along with a wingless outing tomorrow.

Up Next: World of Outlaws Sprint Cars at The Dirt Track at Las Vegas on Thursday and Friday in Shane Liebig’s No. 55 along with a USAC Southwest vs. USAC West Coast non-wing Sprint Car card on Friday in a car fielded by Glenn Styres and Jack Yeley.

Keep Track:  Keep track of Aaron Reutzel’s on-track action including schedule and results at http://www.aaronreutzelracing.com/, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Aaron-Reutzel-Racing/117666254913127 or on Twitter at @AaronReutzel.  You can also e-mail Aaron at aaronreutzel@yahoo.com.

If you would like Aaron Reutzel Racing press releases e-mailed directly to you, send your e-mail address to Lonnie Wheatley at lonniewheatley@gmail.com.

Penning the recurring series of “The Wheatley Chronicles” articles on www.sprintcarmania.com, Lonnie Wheatley provides media, public relations and more for select tracks, drivers and events.  For more information, Wheatley may be contacted at lonniewheatley@gmail.com.

Clauson’s Circular Insanity Kicks Into High Gear

Lonnie Wheatley, LAS VEGAS, Nev. (March 3, 2016) – With a pair of strong World of Outlaws runs in the books including a seventh-place showing at Royal Purple Raceway on Saturday, Bryan Clauson’s “Circular Insanity Tour” kicks into high gear this weekend.

And in a big way, with five races over the next four nights beginning with tonight’s World of Outlaws tilt at The Dirt Track at Las Vegas.

“It’s kind of a preview of the rest of the year,” Clauson commented of the flurry of racing activity this weekend as the chase for 200 races continues.  The count currently stands at 22 races after last weekend’s World of Outlaws double.

The weekend frenzy includes three nights of World of Outlaws competition aboard the Cancer Treatment Centers of America/Elk Grove Ford No. 17w Sprint Car beginning with tonight’s Las Vegas action followed up by another Vegas card on Friday and then the WoO series debut at Queen Creek’s Arizona Speedway on Sunday.

The Noblesville, IN, racer fills out the weekend with a pair of wingless Sprint Car events aboard Mike Martin’s Cancer Treatment Centers of America/Jonathan Byrd’s Restaurant and Hospitality Group No. 16b including Friday’s USAC Southwest vs. USAC West Coast Sprint Car “Sin City Showdown” at Las Vegas and then Saturday’s USAC/CRA season-opening “Sokola Shootout” at California’s Perris Auto Speedway.

It all begins with two nights at the Las Vegas dirt oval, a place Clauson is anxious to make a return to.

“It’s a place that’s been really good to me,” Clauson says of The Dirt Track at Las Vegas.  “We were really good in the winged car with the 82 two years ago and won the wingless show three years ago.”

Clauson has enjoyed success at Perris Auto Speedway as well, capturing last November’s Oval Nationals crown to go along with a Sokola Shootout score in 2013.

Clauson extended his season total to 22 races this past weekend with an 11th-place run at Cotton Bowl Speedway in Paige, TX, on Friday night and then a seventh-place showing on Saturday night at Baytown’s Royal Purple Raceway in World of Outlaws action.

The Friday card marked the first WoO event at the Cotton Bowl Speedway.  “It put us all on a level playing field since hardly anyone had ever been there,” Clauson commented.

The night started out in promising fashion with Clauson stopping the clocks with the third quickest time of the night.

“We qualified good but then a couple of mistakes in the heat race really cost us,” Clauson said of a fourth-place heat race finish that put him 15th in the feature starting grid.

Clauson ultimately worked his way up to 11th in the final rundown, commenting that, “We just buried ourselves too much and couldn’t really overcome it.”

Action shifted to Royal Purple Raceway on Saturday night where a rare timing and scoring system failure worked to Clauson’s advantage.

“That really was a blessing for us because we didn’t qualify very well,” Clauson said of the circumstance that reverted to heat races lined up according to the draw after the timing system crashed out.

As a result, Clauson started on the front row of his heat and raced into the Dash with a second place finish.

Gridding the 40-lap feature sixth, Clauson battled near the top five all the way before crossing the stripe in seventh.

“On paper, it doesn’t look like much to start sixth and finish seventh,” Clauson comments.  “We battled for top five a lot of the way though.”

“The car was good, I was just a little late making some of the adjustments I needed to make,” Clauson explains.  “We were just a little too late going to the bottom early in the race and then a little too late getting off the bottom later in the race.”

Clauson keeps the seventh-place finish in perspective.  “Anytime you have a ho-hum kinda night and it’s a top-ten with the World of Outlaws, you know you’re not doing too bad.”

Now, in the bright lights of Las Vegas, Clauson looks to add to his win total that is already at five as Circular Insanity continues on.

2016 Circular Insanity Tour Quick Stats:  22 races, 5 wins, 12 top-fives, 17 top-tens.

Up Next:

Thursday – World of Outlaws at The Dirt Track at Las Vegas (Cancer Treatment Centers of America/Elk Grove Ford No. 17w Sprint Car)

Friday – World of Outlaws at The Dirt Track at Las Vegas (Cancer Treatment Centers of America/Elk Grove Ford No. 17w Sprint Car) and USAC Southwest vs. USAC West Coast (Mike Martin’s Cancer Treatment Centers of America/Jonathan Byrd’s Restaurant and Hospitality Group No. 16b non-wing Sprint Car)

Saturday – USAC/CRA at California’s Perris Auto Speedway (Mike Martin’s Cancer Treatment Centers of America/Jonathan Byrd’s Restaurant and Hospitality Group No. 16b non-wing Sprint Car)

Sunday – World of Outlaws at Queen Creek’s Arizona Speedway (Cancer Treatment Centers of America/Elk Grove Ford No. 17w Sprint Car)

Keep Track:  Keep track of Bryan Clauson’s 2016 Circular Insanity Tour at www.bryanclauson.com, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/bryanclausonracing/?fref=ts and on Twitter at @bryanclausoninc.

If you would like Bryan Clauson “Circular Insanity Tour” press releases e-mailed directly to you, send your e-mail address to Lonnie Wheatley at lonniewheatley@gmail.com.

Penning the recurring series of “The Wheatley Chronicles” articles on www.sprintcarmania.com, Lonnie Wheatley provides media, public relations and more for select tracks, drivers and events.  For more information, Wheatley may be contacted at lonniewheatley@gmail.com.